Rick Santorum defends foreign assistance at CNN debate

Everyone, please welcome Laurie Moskowitz, ONE’s senior director of US campaigns, to the ONE Blog. We’re excited to have her on board!

The GOP presidential candidates debated foreign policy again last night, this time against the backdrop of the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. We were pleased to see some of ONE’s issues addressed, with a question about continuing funding of development assistance.

Sen. Rick Santorum stressed the moral and strategic importance of programs such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund, saying “It’s important for us to use all the assets we have. Promote our values. America is that shining city on the hill. It is — it is the city that comes to the aid of those in trouble in America — in the world. We have done more good for America in Africa and in the third world by the things that we’ve done. And we have saved money and saved military deployments by wisely spending that money not on our enemies but on folks who can and will be our friends.”

We applaud Sen. Santorum for standing up for the millions of people around the world who rely on development assistance to lead healthy lives.

We were also pleased to hear Mr. Herman Cain emphasize the importance of supporting programs that deliver results. Our key priorities like PEPFAR, the Global Fund and Feed the Future have clear measurable goals and outcomes which is what is important to US taxpayers and to those people we are trying to help with lifesaving assistance.

We hope to hear the other candidates speak out about the importance of aid and the strategic value it provides to US security.

To read more about ONE Vote’s 2012 presence at the debate — including our interactions with the candidates themselves — click here.